[6BQ5]

I'd like to create a reference list of current and recent past ILCs that can operate in complete silence. Can everyone here help? I will take replies to the thread and add them to this initial post. The list will include make, model, sensor size, and lens mounting system. I'll start with the Q7 that I think can operate in completely silent.

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Nikon 1 Series

CX Sensor - Nikon 1 Lens Mount

Panasonic Lumix GH-3

m4/3 Sensor - m4/3 Lens Mount

Panasonic Lumix GX-7

m4/3 Sensor - m4/3 Lens Mount

Pentax Q7

1/1.7" Sensor - Q Lens Mount

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Last edited by 6BQ5; 12-25-2013 at 09:48 PM. Reason: clarifications! :-)

[scratchpaddy]

Wouldn't that just be anything with an electronic shutter? Any cameraphone would fit that bill, at least, after you disable that silly crunch noise they play when you take a picture.

I guess, what I'm asking is, do you mean completely silent, or nearly undetectable? Leaf shutters are very, very quiet, but you can still hear them. Electronic shutters make no noise at all.

[6BQ5]

The list is meant for ILCs so smartphones with cameras don't count. Those would be fixed lens units in my mind.

Quiet is not silent. I mean super-secret-agent-spy silent!

[yorik]

I just took delivery of a GX-7... it has a silent mode (complete with electronic shutter).

[JHD]

Nikon 1

[carrrlangas]

Any, just cough as you press the shutter!

That´s what I do. Cough and look other way than your subject

[6BQ5]

Updated the list.

[philbaum]

I thought D70 had an electronic shutter, but checking dpreview, it has a combination of a mechanical/electronic shutter. So it probably isn't totally quiet unless someone knows different.

D70 Has an X sync speed of 1/500s though. I think when you get to aps size sensors, fully electronic isn't fast enough, i guess, so you're talking about m4/3 and smaller.

My two nex's have an electronic first curtain shutter, but the noise still isn't quieter than my K5.

[JHD]

If you will allow just a little bit of noise from a leaf shutter, there's a Ninja camera otherwise known as the Ricoh GR. It's about as loud as the Q.

A quiet shutter can be useful under certain conditions, but for street photography it is practically pointless. A flip out screen is is much more discreet.

[Aegon]

The Panasonic GH3 has a silent mode.

[jogiba]

Blessed Silence & Stealth

I can't stress this enough. The RX1 is almost totally silent in operation because of its leaf shutter. If you turn off the electronic focus confirmation sound all you hear is a soft "snick" when the shutter is released. Someone standing a few feet away, even in a totally silent room, won't be able to hear it, and in any normal environment the camera is effectively totally silent. Of course there are many small cameras with leaf shutters that are also silent, but full-frame, 24 MP? No, nothing else past or present.

For real stealth you need to do a few more things. One is to turn off the focus assist light. I find that it hardly helps at all in any event, and simply draws unwanted attention to you and the camera. If you're using either the optical viewfinder or the EVF, you can also turn off the rear LCD, and so in a dark environment there is nothing to give away the camera's presence. Put a little black electrical tape over the white lettering on the front of the camera and you have about as discreet a street shooting and night shooting camera as one could wish.

Sony RX1 Review

[6BQ5]

The Sony RX1 and our beloved Ricoh GR have fixed lenses. This list is for ILCs.

I'll add in the GH3.

[JHD]

The Sony RX1 and our beloved Ricoh GR have fixed lenses.

A fixed / prime lens that acts not as one... not as two... but THREE different focal lengths, without the hassle of changing lenses! And to top it all off, it fits inside a small pocket. Imagine that - it's a modern day miracle!

And the image quality is much better than that crappy m4/3 junk.

[silentcam]

I recently wanted a silent camera (either new or a design not more than 10 years old) for under $2000USD, and your list gave me the best starting point to uncover what was available, so thank you very much for your help. In return, I’d like to tell you what I found. I looked at over 60 cameras from eight of the major manufacturers, and found quite a few offering quietness of various levels. Silence, however, is something else.

Apparently, there is no agreed way of measuring the audible noise of a camera, so there is no formal testing commonly available, and reliable information is hard to find. Nevertheless, scattered through many reviews, photographic forums and youtube, a few good folk have acknowledged that a particular model that they’ve used is indeed silent and this enabled me to compile a list of 18 silent cameras, based on these comments.

It should be noted that ‘silent’, amazingly, when applied to cameras, doesn’t necessarily mean ‘no noise’. Even when the Menu lists a silent option and this is engaged, the shutter and/or mirror may still click or clack. So I didn’t assume that just because a silent function is listed in a Menu, that that is what you get. Also, during this ‘silent’ time, the zoom lens might rattle and the IS system can hum. Yup, that’s how it is.

I’m fairly sure that all of the cameras on my list achieve their silent operation by using an electronic shutter by itself to take the photo, and incur the various risks, such as rolling shutter and dark banding under certain fluorescent lighting, that that entails.

I won’t list all the silent cameras I found, but perhaps I can be allowed to mention one model from each of the brands that were represented on my silent list, and which you might want to add to your list.

Eight of the silent cameras on my list are by Panasonic, such as the DMC-GM1, all of which use four thirds sensors.
Four of the cameras are by Olympus, such as the E-M5 11, all using 4/3 sensors
Four are by Fuji, such as the XT-10, all using APS-C sensors
And two by Sony, such as the A6300, all using APS-C sensors

I only glanced at cameras costing over two grand - suffice to say that some of them are quite noisy and some can be silent.

Thank you once again.

[tygress]

I recently wanted a silent camera (either new or a design not more than 10 years old) for under $2000USD, and your list gave me the best starting point to uncover what was available, so thank you very much for your help. In return, I’d like to tell you what I found. I looked at over 60 cameras from eight of the major manufacturers, and found quite a few offering quietness of various levels. Silence, however, is something else.

Apparently, there is no agreed way of measuring the audible noise of a camera, so there is no formal testing commonly available, and reliable information is hard to find. Nevertheless, scattered through many reviews, photographic forums and youtube, a few good folk have acknowledged that a particular model that they’ve used is indeed silent and this enabled me to compile a list of 18 silent cameras, based on these comments.

It should be noted that ‘silent’, amazingly, when applied to cameras, doesn’t necessarily mean ‘no noise’. Even when the Menu lists a silent option and this is engaged, the shutter and/or mirror may still click or clack. So I didn’t assume that just because a silent function is listed in a Menu, that that is what you get. Also, during this ‘silent’ time, the zoom lens might rattle and the IS system can hum. Yup, that’s how it is.

I’m fairly sure that all of the cameras on my list achieve their silent operation by using an electronic shutter by itself to take the photo, and incur the various risks, such as rolling shutter and dark banding under certain fluorescent lighting, that that entails.

I won’t list all the silent cameras I found, but perhaps I can be allowed to mention one model from each of the brands that were represented on my silent list, and which you might want to add to your list.

Eight of the silent cameras on my list are by Panasonic, such as the DMC-GM1, all of which use four thirds sensors.
Four of the cameras are by Olympus, such as the E-M5 11, all using 4/3 sensors
Four are by Fuji, such as the XT-10, all using APS-C sensors
And two by Sony, such as the A6300, all using APS-C sensors

I only glanced at cameras costing over two grand - suffice to say that some of them are quite noisy and some can be silent.

Thank you once again.

I would really appreciate that list if you still have it. I am doing the same research and I am trying to find the least expensive silent camera to take photos of baby hedgehogs. When the shutter closes on my current camera the babies hide their heads and the photo is ruined.

Thank you very much in advance.